It's Crunch Time!

There has been some knitting going on...surprisingly enough with all the packing and washing taking place at the same time! There are my Socks that Rock February Sock Kit - you will notice that they are not knitted in the pattern that they arrived with. That's because I'm not as dedicated as Sarah about keeping sock kits and patterns together and also because....well, they resembled something that I just rather not wear on my foot. You can get the idea here from the Yarn Harlot. They do however, look nice when finished as you can see here but still....

These are Fleece Artist Merino in a Painted Yarns pattern. Virginia van Santen not only painted amazing yarn but she designed excellent patterns as well. I love how this pattern blends the colors.

The pattern is called Eyelet Rib and is very simple to knit. I love patterns that are intricate looking but simple to do, don't you?

These are on the way from SKNITches! The self striping has been delayed so I got Bebop instead.

Lots of new stuff is arriving while I'm on vacation which just about drives me crazy! I love opening the new boxes of yarn. There will be no updates on the website for two weeks and no orders shipped either.

The big updates you can expect are Duets, Spinning Bunny, Claudia, Seacoast plus.....there's new stuff on order. But it's a surprise!

Bad Blogger

Ok so I'm stressed....we're going to Florida soon and there is a family of 4 to get ready. My husband keeps saying he's soooo looking forward to the trip and I keep saying I would be more excited too, IF I only had to think of my golf clubs! I know there's not a woman who doesn't know what I mean.

I have been knitting - these are Fleece Artist Sea Wool Bordello Socks in Amethyst. I love, love, love this yarn! It's heavier than regular sock yarn so it's a quick knit. They have a beautiful sheen to them. The yarn came in and went out - there's still a few skeins left - but only about 10 out of the 74 that I got. There's already another big order that's been placed.

I've given up on most of my socks without partners! I've cleaned out my knitting bag and have re-filled it with yarn I'm taking to Florida. There's Fleece Artist Merino Sock, Socks that Rock February yarn, Yarn Pirate in Isobel, a surprise one that I'm hoping to get for the shop, one skein of Louets in Pink Panther to finish my Adare Manor and uh.....oh yeah! my own February Sock Club Kit! Do you think that's enough? I'm worried that I will want to knit something but won't have it.

This is what Sarah and Meghan and I did last night. It's official I am now a commercial account with Canada Post - which interestingly, does not save me a dime on shipping, but does give me these lovely canvas bags to pack my boxes in for pick up. That's right, they pick them up from me, instead of me trudging to the post office with garbage bags full of boxes. And I have to admit - it was getting a bit embarassing lugging 3 or 4 or sometimes 5 or 6 garbage bags out of the car, across the parking lot into the post office. A couple of times there were so many, I actually took them to more than one post office.

Virginia Van Santen

As many of you already know, Virgina passed away Saturday morning after a battle with liver cancer. This is so unbearably sad for so many reasons. She was a great talent in pattern design and yarn dyeing. VvS Painted Yarns was one of the very first yarns that I purchased for my shop and Virginia was wonderful to work with. Just as she introduced her sock yarn she learned of her illness. Both she and I talked about how unfair it was that just as she was getting known and things were beginning to take off, she wouldn't be able to continue. I'm so glad I kept yarn aside for myself, which is safely tucked in my stash - I will knit something amazing with it as a tribute to Virgina and her talent. I'm working on a beaded scarf with one of the skeins - but anything else I make with the yarn will take careful consideration. If you want to know more about Virginia and her talent, please visit her blog and leave a comment so her family and friends will know we care. I hope there's lots of yarn in heaven.

Market Research

We had a great day yesterday! We missed you, Meg! Overall I was restrained which is a change! Sarah won the spending spree with some amazing stuff! The day started off at the Naked Sheep which we could have arrived at a bit earlier if Sarah wasn't so anxious and jumped

ahead in the driving directions!

Here I got:

Nature's Palette Sock Yarn in Indian Paintbrush

Inca Gold Superbaby Alpaca and Cashmere in Spring Frost ($24.95 per skein for 50 gr. YIKES!)

Sheep Tape Measurer - how cute are they? I've been coveting this for a long time!

Next stop was The Knit Cafe - very cute shop! With a great cafe and very friendly staff! 8 skeins of Koigu Kersti for me for a special secret project!

We had lunch at the Armadillo Texas Grill on Front Street - it was delicious! Next we went on to tackle Romni Wools. Here's I got:

Colinette Jitterbug

Short Addis in 2.5 mm - they are so short I'm not sure they will even work for me - but it's a tool I didn't already have!

Cute little sheep pouch - not sure what I'm going to do with this either but it was too cute to resist!

Romni is a huge store but completely overwhelming - it is stuffed with yarn. If you know exactly what you want then it certainly is a place to go because they have everything under the sun but if you want to spend time browsing in a yarn shop, to me, it would be frustrating!

We save the very best for the very last! Yes! Lettuce Knit! Megan was there so it was nice to see her and enjoy her shop! There was Fleece Artist sock yarn that I was just dying to have but I exercised extreme self control. However, if I don't get those colors in my order I'll be heading back to Lettuce Knit for the ones I want!

Here I got:

One skein of Schaefer Yarn Anne (this is one I'm thinking about for the shop - excellent yardage and beautiful colors!)

Two more skeins of Nature's Palette in Lupine - again this might be an addition to the shop........thinking, thinking, thinking.....

And an exclusive Lettuce Knit Origami Bag with horses on it! Too cute!

We were met by my husband when we got home and I had my whole haul stuffed in one bag and I said, see I didn't buy much? His response was I know that a small bag doesn't necessarily mean a small amount of money spent to buy what's in the bag. Hmmmm, he's learning a bit too much about this whole yarn business stuff!

I'm up early today which is ridiculous because it's March Break and I don't have to be up this early but I think Fleece Artist and Apple Laine are coming today so I couldn't sleep anymore - the problem is that just because I'm up and waiting doesn't mean it's going to come any faster!

Yarn Crawl!

Sarah, Lisa (my sister) and I are off on a Yarn Crawl today. We're headed to 4 shops in downtown Toronto. And of course, lunch somewhere as well! We're going to The Naked Sheep, The Knit Cafe, Romni Wools and Lettuce Knit - the last being our favorite! I love Lettuce Knit!

There a big update coming to the website this week - the biggest I've ever done I think! Here's the rundown:
74 skeins of Sea Wool (Fleece Artist)
40 skein of Merino Socks (Fleece Artist)
40 skeins of Sea Silk (Handmaiden)
20 skeins of Great Big Sea Silk (Handmaiden)
170 skeins of Apple Laine
more medium Sockblockers

Lots of pictures to take! Fun, fun, fun!

I am so proud of myself!

Ok I'm really, really proud of myself but first....special thanks to Isobel from Pennsylvania for more amazing charity knitting! You've gone way above and beyond the call of duty - I know everyone at Yellow Brick House appreciates all your hard work as I do!

Now why am I proud? Duets are why I'm proud. I knit this baby up just since Friday night and cannot wait to cast on the finish the pair. This colorway is So Chic and wow, were they fun!

Toe up, which I feel as if I've conquered and an after thought heel! I'm very, very excited about the heel. Totally new skill for me. I was so enthralled with these socks that I wouldn't eat desert at my sister's tonight for dinner. The end was in sight - and I had to get them done! There's a few skeins left (3 I think) in the shop, so if you haven't managed to get a pair for yourself, there's still time. I've also ordered triple the amount again - so more is on the way!

Look what I got from Sarah! Aren't they the cutest? She got them from Good to Be Girl! I went to order my sister a set because she is now a Grey's addict thanks to my DVDs. She actually tried to steal them tonight - well, actually just one of them and I said I would get her some and now they aren't available. Now if I was a nice sister, I'd give her one of mine. But don't you think it would be rude to give away a gift? Yup - that's what I'll tell her! I'm not sure but I might have created a monster because now my sister wants a t-shirt that says I Knit With Grey's to wear while she's watching the show on Thursday nights.

Guess what....

is shipping today? Fleece Artist! I was looking over what I had on order and calculating that it had been four weeks and wondering whether or not to bug Kathryn. I opened my email and there was the invoice saying it was ready to ship! Ever since I've been all excited and nervous and excited - you know that feeling you get - that jiggly feeling! Ok so I have it bad for sock yarn, I know! It's just so exciting to be finally bringing in this Canadian yarn! There's over 100 skeins arriving - most are Sea Wool and the rest are Merino Sock! And there's still more coming from Handmaiden....Sea Silk and Great Big Sea Silk. I've also decided to add one new company but it's going to be a surprise. I've personally used this yarn and it's wonderful. It will take about 2 weeks to make it's debut! Well, I must go and prepare the website for the arrival of Fleece Artist!

Still here!

This poor blog is the one thing that gets neglected when I'm buried in orders! First Seacoast Panda, then Yarn Pirate Superwash, then Duets (still a few left!). Today all the rest of the Louet colors arrive and did you see? My ad is attached to the cover of the sock on the Spring Knitty!

Yesterday I got the new boxes for the sockblockers - and they are amazing - they have flexible heights so they work perfectly. My husband and I were hysterical laughing when we were packing up a pair of blockers. We were both so excited by how great the boxes were - that's what our lives have become - excited over cardboard!

Ok - so I must speak about Anna Nicole Smith. Or more accurately, her mother - last night I saw her shovelling dirt into her daughter's grave as if she were digging a vegetable garden. I have never seen anything more disrespectful - never!never!never! Ok - that's it - that's all I have to say about that.

More spots are available for the April Sock Club! Have a happy March Break - is it Spring break in the US too?

Seacoast Panda Sock in Cowboy! I love, love, love this yarn! It's beautiful to knit with. It's just a simple k3, p1 sock but I can't wait to wear it!

There's still some Panda Sock and a bit of Yarn Pirate left so I took an Isobel Superwash for myself. Because you know, I definitely do not have enough sock yarn!

Today is another blustery, cold, snowy day in Southern Ontario - we are expecting winds of 90 km/h this afternoon (that's about 45-50 mph). Our driveway is almost completely blown in at the bottom - good thing for my little 4 wheel drive truck because if a package notice comes today then I must get it - it will be Duets and I cannot wait!

I had a thought about this blog on the weekend - how is it that I went from over 40 comments to virtually none. Did all my commenters turn into lurkers? Was I boring? No comments on your blog could give you a complex. This entry is no more entertaining than the last two so I wonder........lots of comments or no comments?

More Ice for Your Drink?

Because we have lots....outside! We did get the winter storm yesterday afternoon and last night. Looks like no horses will be going outside today. This is Misty and Barkley looking at me as if I have a few screws loose. You want us to what???












This is what it looks like all over our property - lots of clean up ! We had extremely high winds and power is out all over the place. Miraculously, we still have power and internet which almost never happens in weather like this. Being in the country it feels as if we lose power before anyone else and have it out the longest. Let's hope we keep it because it's cold out there - and when we have no power we have no water because we're on a well.




Not probably doing any driving today - there's a thick layer of ice all over my truck.

Just glanced out my window - now it's snowing. We are still under a storm warning so there's no telling what more can happen!

I did manage to get all the sock blockers and orders to the mail yesterday before we got hit with this. I ordered bigger boxes for the sock blockers because they were alot longer than I anticipated but guess what? They were still too small. My husband went out and got some bigger ones at a packaging place but we had to cut those down. So they aren't pretty, but they are on the way!

I heard from Angela at Duet Yarns - my order was mailed yesterday and I reordered triple again. She's got some new yarns coming which is exciting! There's been a slight price increase ($1) because she bought a special dryer to speed to drying process after dyeing so she could get the yarn out faster. Totally worth it! I'm expecting almost 1000 skeins of yarn for the shop by the end of March from various suppliers. Isn't that exciting?

Today is a perfect knitting day! Cast on, stay warm and have lots and lots of fun!

A Good Problem!

I will be the first to admit - I know nothing about computers - funny isn't it - since I spend so much time on one. I can make it do what I want but not much else. I got a call from my webguy saying he wanted to discuss my hosting package. I thought that it must be time to pay for the next year or something but noooooooo..............apparently, my little shop is using about 4 times the bandwidth that their biggest hosting package is supposed to cover. They have to come up with an arrangement for me - isn't that hilarious? This from a guy who thought I was nice and everything but certainly crazy for thinking I could sell yarn online. I just laughed and laughed all the way home - another example of why knitters should be taking seriously - we are a force!

Last night, Sarah, Debbie and my sister stopped by for some knitting - we didn't get much knitting done because we were too busy eating. (I did manage however, to snag a skein of Seacoast Panda Sock[yes! it's here] for myself and plan to cast on a new pair of socks from Favorite Socks[debating between Go with the Flow & Undulating Rib] while I wait for the winter storm. ) Spring rolls, mini quiche, cheese, crackers.....yummy! But we did take a picture of all of our combined socks without partners - Debbie didn't have any with her and my sister had two to contribute. I'm proud to say that Lisa, Sarah and I jointly are the proud owners of 16 partnerless socks. My husband suggested we make 8 pairs out of them - he might actually have a point! You will notice that there is one finished pair - mine, mine, mine! The SKNITches socks for my husband!